So, i've had the car for a week and a half now so a more balanced review.
Good points?
Washing it earlier today was a sexual experience. Noticed that under all the dirt it's a similar colour to my Cinqy. Smooth lines and lack of crevices for dirt to hide. If i had more time and was keeping it for an another week or so i'd treat it to a clay bar and some wax.
Agree.
The City button. Gets switched on each morning while i maneuver out of the bay parking space. With the car spending 2 or 3 days a week in central London the button is a great treat.
(Agree) Shame the turning circle is nothing special . . .
The real time MPG function. I've found that the car only really feels nice (ok? / balanced?) to drive when you're trying to keep this reading >50mpg. Can't get it to drop below 11mpg though. Best i've managed is just over 60mpg @60mph on the M25.
Nice.
The stere
k, so i hated it at the start, but a long traffic jam allowed me to explore it and re-program it. Amazing sound from the std set up (however, comparing to my 4" fronts on the cinq) and a fair amount of power. The way it mutes down as you change the station / settings. CD player is too picky for damaged cd's though.
What settings you changed it to?
The smoothness of the engine. You can hold it just off the redline in 4th and you wouldn't notice it from any vibes / noises. Hit the limiter and you're reminded that it can rough as hell.
The willingness / robustness of the engine. It's had a hard two weeks. In the minus 5 mornings it'd bounce straight off the limiter from start up.
Any car would do this but I wouldn't do it to mine from cold, I mean are you trying to find trouble? (Car got thrashed whenever i discovered a shortcoming - this one was the handbrake that wouldn't release and dragged the rear wheels across the ice).It hasn't used a drop of oil in the thousand miles of hard use though.
The lights are good - However, see note later.
The shortcomings, in no particular order.
The airbox has snapped in half.
Probably hitting the limiter at cold wouldn't have helped. It's now floating around the engine bay. Not sure how this happened as there's no flex between the two points where it's (meant to be) bolted (loosely) down. The plus point of this is a nice throaty roar. The downside is a horrid flat spot at 4K when working through the gears. The other downside may be the amount of crap the TB butterfly is getting covered in. Will tack it back together before it goes back. . .
The wonderful way that the boot opens. Earlier in this thread someone mentioned it as a plus point. . . Yesterday someone (on forum) found out what happens when you pop the boot open while keeping the rest of the car locked. -> Keys looked in boot. . . . Poor cheap design. At least make it so the rest of the car unlocks when you pop the boot!
Cumbersome key fob. I know i'd get used to it in time, but fed up of popping the boot when trying to lock / unlock it.
I don't really know what to say but... n00b.
Lack of cabin storage. I can easily spend 4 hours a day in a car. Up to 10 hours sometimes. All i want is somewhere to put wallet / phone / blackberry / drink / snacks / cds. What makes this worse is when you look at the amount of space that is wasted between the seats and the door cards. They could have soo easily increased the width of the pockets by a few cms. Or the centre consul area? How handy would it be to have a small thin (net?) pocket next to the footwells?
Following on from the above. The dash. It would have been soo easy to add a tray to the dash that you can just put a phone / pen on while driving.
Yuck, why didn't you buy a Yaris or a Corsa. Or a flat spot to put a drink (ones that don't fit in those horrid cup holders - which is most things!) when parked up.
Following on from the above. The sweeping sexy screen. Need arms like a chimpanzee to reach the sat nav. Really struggled to find a spot for it that didn't block my view or was on the passenger side.
Sat Nav is for pussies.
12V socket. Lead gets pulled out when you use the handbrake.
Handbrake. Heavy and worse than my Cinq. Sticks when cold.
I use mine alot never stuck and it says if you are going to leave the car for 2 weeks or more don't use the handbrake.
Gear shift and cup holders hate each other. How about having one like a Civic or Panda? One out of the dash?
Cos they look horrid, cheap and break.
The way things are placed in just the way that they swallow items. Pens and phones down the side of seats. Forever trying to get them out.
The brightness of the main beam light on the dash. Sort of counter productive when you're trying to see down dark lanes.
Agree.
Windscreen wipers. Thank you FIAT. Thanks for deciding that you will dictate that once i've used the screen wash you will wipe 7 seconds after i've finished cleaning my screen.
Windscreen jets. Maybe it's just the bog standard one? Having a jet in the middle would work wonders and i wouldn't have the smeared stripe across the windscreen. If this is a budget choice i worry what other tiny things have been removed!
Clutch foot "rest". How high do you want this? Found myself stuffing my size 8's up into the dash next to the steering column to get any "rest". (also allows you to jam the steering and relax on the steering). Other option was to jam my foot under the peddles, or fold my leg back round.
Engine performance. It's 8V 1.2L. However, throttle response is lacking when making progress. Low down torque is also none existent.
Build quality. Maybe it's to keep the weight down, but having given mine a good clean i was shocked about how thin areas of body work were and the damage / bending already sustained.
Road noise. Prob combination of steelies and hard rubber, but it'd clunk and thump over cracks and bumps more so than i'd expect from a mid sized car.
Agree.
Oh, almost forgot. Understeer anyone?
If your asking me then not anymore
Summary
I'd never buy a GP.
I'd recommend one for my mum to pootle around back and forth to the shops though. Something cheap and easy to drive. Cute and curvy.
I think this car is the exact opposite to a mummy pootle car.
I want another fiat, but i think i'd have to take a look at the new Bravo. However, wanted a 3-Door.
Hope my traumatic experience is of help to others.